QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Río Cañas Abajo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Río Cañas Abajo in the 24 hours to 4:07 pm AST (20:07 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 22 km (14 mi) SSE, at 7:09 pm AST on 5 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Río Cañas Abajo

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 2 km (1 mi) north-northwest of Río Cañas Abajo, PR, at 5:05 am AST on 23 September 2019 (09:05 UTC), 7.0 km deep.

USGS: 2 km NNW of Río Cañas Abajo, Puerto Rico

17 km (11 mi) ENE of Ponce, PR

5:05 am AST, Sep 23, 2019 · · 7.0 km deep · released about 7.1 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Río Cañas Abajo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Juana Díaz Municipio 7 kmVillalba Municipio 8 kmCoamo Municipio 13 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 15 kmPonce Municipio 16 kmOrocovis Municipio 18 kmJayuya Municipio 21 kmBarranquitas Municipio 23 kmAibonito Municipio 23 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
5:05 am AST on 23 September 2019 ()
Where
2 km (1 mi) north-northwest of Río Cañas Abajo, PR · earthquakes near Río Cañas Abajo
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
7.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Juana Díaz Municipio, 7 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2606 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Río Cañas Abajo, 2 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.

Likely felt in: Río Cañas Abajo 2 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.1 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.1 lb of TNT

Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.6 on 2019-03-12 — about 34,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 42 km ENE of this epicentre

Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.

Where

Epicentre 18.0588, -66.4726. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) SSW earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Villalba Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) N earthquakes near Villalba Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) ENE earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) SE earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) WSW earthquakes near Ponce Municipio
Orocovis Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) NNE earthquakes near Orocovis Municipio

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

41 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 2.1 12 km SSW of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.0 15 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.1 12 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.2 12 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.8 12 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.7 1 km S of Liborio Negron Torres, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.8 1 km ESE of Mariano Colón, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.0 10 km W of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.4 7 km ESE of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.9 12 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.9 12 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.8 12 km N of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.0 12 km S of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.3 1 km E of Corozal, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.2 13 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.